Earlier this week I was in my kitchen, cooking, when I felt God speak to my heart.

He was speaking to me about choice.

He told me that I could choose to stay where I am, or I could choose to pursue more.

More of God, more life, more fullness.

So much of my life has improved since my first decision to follow Jesus, nine years ago. But there are still God-given promises that I have yet to see in my life. There’s still more of Him that I have not discovered.

There’s always more of Him for you and I to discover.

Yet, I knew that pursuing more of God would also mean more sacrifice, more surrender, more discomfort.

And so I felt a temptation to just settle for what I have, rather than pursue all God has for me.

I have only been a Christian for nine years, yet I have noticed that so many Jesus-followers stop before they pursue the more.

Some people simply settle.

Maybe they still love Jesus, but don’t want to change their mind on certain issues. Maybe they think they cannot stop a certain habit, or maybe they struggle with a challenging question. Whatever it is, I’ve seen people give up on the more. They let something draw them to a halt.

These people don’t fully retreat – salvation is still theirs, heaven is still their eternal home. Yet, they stand still on an issue – not wanting to go there with God.

Sometimes that stand-still is just a pause, but other times it becomes a way of life. God is allowed in that someone’s life… but only to a point.

I am not judging those people, because I can relate. It does feel easier for me to settle in some areas:

• Settle in my ways and not make a choice to change them.
• Settle in my plans without allowing God to uproot them.
• Settle in my beliefs, not giving God permission to challenge them.

As I write this, I feel like the Holy Spirit might be gently nudging a few of us: We’ve been settling instead of choosing the more.

Hey, listen: God is kind. He will not force us to keep pursuing Him.

Promises of God are not dependant on us, but there is a fullness of life that is ours for the taking if we choose to grow in our relationship with Jesus. It is a fullness that Jesus paid for on the cross.

And, we grow in our relationship with Jesus through pursuit.

• Sometimes settling can seem easier than pursuing Jesus.
• Sometimes settling might make even make the most logical sense – you can reason your way into anything.
• Sometimes settling will give us that instant hit of gratification we are looking for, but it will not last.

Deep down, we will still crave what only relationship of God can satisfy.

So let’s turn away from settling, together. Let’s make it easy because feelings can lie to us and when we feel like something is too hard, we back away.  

I have three steps for pursuing more of God:

1. Give thanks for the obvious stuff.

The bible says:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Romans 1: 21, NIV, my exaggeration.

It also reads:

[…] Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

Romans 1: 19 – 20, NIV, my exaggeration.

How often do you give thanks to God?

I know that I am not very good at this. Yet, I feel like the first step in turning away from settling is for thanking God for where we are now.

God makes His wonder plain to us; so we have a lot to be thankful for.

It sounds like such an easy thing to do and in today’s culture gratitude is emphasised as a stress-reliever. Yet, I know it is not something I regularly practice. And I know that effects my mood and makes me feel like giving up. Everyone needs encouragement and as you thank God for all He has done for you, you cannot help be encouraged.

2. Make repentance simple.

I think of this bible verse:

[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

Ephesians 3:20, NIV, my brackets.

I think we make repentance bigger in our minds than it needs to be.

Repentance is simply turning away from things that are not of God.

In the verse above it talks about God’s power at work in us. It is God that forgave us by sending His son to die on the cross – We are not the doers, but we are the receivers of His hard work.

Repentance simply looks like saying sorry when we do things apart from God andbelieving that we are forgiven, because He made it so.

It is about believing that God is kind enough to give us another way, apart from our sin and shame.

Repentance doesn’t have to be a big deal, if we read the bible regularly it can become part of our daily lives.

Reading the bible often makes it easy for us to become aware of where we are living outside of God’s grace. When we let the word of God search our hearts it is easy to say sorry for anything that the Holy Spirit highlights. It’s actually really simple.

What I am discovering is that small, daily habits of repentance are much easier than huge, emotional monthly confessions!

3. Let God stir faith in you.

The bible talks about a man called Abraham, who was promised a son in his old age:

Without weakening in his faith, [Abraham] faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that [his wife’s] womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Romans 4: 19 – 21, NIV, my brackets.

We can face facts. We can state what our reality is now, even if it is a bit bleak and dreary.

We can also let God persuade us that He has power to do what He promises.

I wonder if that is our prayer for the week:

“God persuade us that you have power to do what you promise.”

And maybe some of us simply need to be reminded of what He promised. An hour with a pen, a blank sheet of paper and the Holy Spirit might be just what you need! Write out all of the promises that come to your mind.

Let the Holy Spirit help you; Let God persuade you of His power.

Last Thoughts…

Maybe you have been tempted to settle in one area of your relationship with God.

Or maybe you have already settled and God is speaking to you, wanting to remind you of the more He gives.

God is kind and gracious and He will lead us where we need to go, in order to live out an abundant live with Him. God will also leave us alone, if that is what we choose.

• I want to remind you that the choice is yours.
• I want to tell you that, in my experience, refusing to settle for anything less than Jesus’ fullness has always been worth it.
• I want you to know that whatever Jesus has for you will be so good that the sacrifice will seem tiny to you, one day.

Praying for you guys.